Mumbai, July 6 (IANS) At the maiden joint rally after the debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, the MahaYuti partners BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP on Saturday sounded the bugle for the upcoming Assembly election with a resolve to work together to retain power in Maharashtra.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis went a step further and announced that the MahaYuti will win 200 of the 288 assembly seats in the state if it gets 25 lakh votes more than the Lok Sabha elections.

Another Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the opposition, which is scared by a slew of proposals for women, girls, youth and other sections in the budget, may run a campaign saying these sops are an eyewash but the MahaYuti partners will have to counter their charges by flagging off the development plank.

He admitted that the Centre’s decision to ban onion exports adversely impacted MahaYuti’s prospects in the general elections and therefore he urged the union minister Piyush Goyal, who was present at the rally, not to impost onion export ban at the time of Assembly elections but do everything possible to protect the farmers’ interests.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde asked the MahaYuti leaders and cadres not to be complacent and to step-up efforts to reach out to the voters by taking up a number of development works carried out by the state government in the last two years to ensure MahaYuti’s victory.

Fadnavis admitted that the MahaYuti did not counter Maha Vikas Aghadi’s fake narrative effectively during the general elections.

“We noticed that they (MVA) lied every day but we remained oblivious. Our battle was with the fourth party, the fake narrative, that led to MahaYuti winning fewer seats. Truth is eternal, falsehood is not long. You can win an election by lying, but you can’t lie consistently,” he said,

He said that it is now the job of the MahaYuti leaders and cadres to not only project the state government’s decisions for farmers, women, girls, youth and proposals to spur Maharashtra’s growth but also to focus on enrolment of maximum eligible beneficiaries for various schemes.

Fadnavis snubbed the spokespersons of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP for their verbal duel, especially with regard to seat sharing. “If anyone wants to speak, he should ask his leaders first and only after their approval can they make their comments,” he said.

Pawar admitted that apart from MVA’s fake narrative, the MahaYuti could not get the desired seats due to its failure to maintain coordination during the Lok Sabha elections.

“However, the MahaYuti will have to work unitedly by maintaining proper coordination to win the assembly election in Maharashtra. The MahaYuti needs to hold similar rallies in districts, tehsils and villages by reaching out to the voters taking up state government’s development works and its proposals for various sections,” he said.

He said that if the opposition spreads a fake narrative, it will have to be immediately countered strongly.

Shinde took a swipe at Congress for accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of corruption.

“Congress has no right to accuse PM Modi, especially in the wake of various scams including Bofors, fodder scam, coal scam,” he said

He also targeted his former boss and Shiv Sena UBT Chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying that, “I work face-to-face not through Facebook live.”

Shinde exhorted the MahaYuti leaders and workers to work hard for its victory in the Assembly election.

“If MahaYuti activists immediately respond to the fake narrative, the intentions of the opposition will be thwarted. Go to the voters with the welfare schemes undertaken by the MahaYuti government. The MahaYuti will win in the assembly election,” he said.

–IANS

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Kolkata, July 6 (IANS) An MP-MLA court in Kolkata has granted bail to Saumitra Khan, the BJP MP from Bishnupur Lok Sabha constituency, against a personal bond of Rs 500 after he appeared before the court in connection with a case dating back to last year, sources said on Saturday.

On June 25, the same court fixed July 9 as the deadline for Khan to be personally present before it, failing which he faced arrest. The direction came after the BJP MP repeatedly failed to honour the court summonses sent to him for an appearance before it.

However, Khan appeared before the court before the deadline on Saturday, following which the judge granted him bail against a personal bond of Rs 500.

Coming out of the court, Khan launched a scathing attack against the state police for “falsely implicating” him in a case relating to abusing a police inspector in Bankura district over allegations of financial regularities in a self-help group run by women at Sonamukhi in the same district in 2023.

“The police first resorted to extortion and then filed a false case against me to strip me of my MP’s chair. This is unprecedented,” Khan said.

Khan is a three-time Lok Sabha member from Bishnupur. He first won the elections on a Trinamool Congress ticket in 2014, before joining the BJP and retaining the seat in 2019 and 2024.

–IANS

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Lucknow, July 6 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday said that they have arrested key suspects in the Hathras stampede case and are also probing the political links related to the case.

The police identified the accused as the main organiser Dev Prakash Madhukar, who was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh as well as two other accused Ram Prakash Shakya and Sanju Yadav.

“With today’s arrest, we have now arrested a total of 9 accused in the case,” Hathras Police claimed.

Hathras SP Nipun Aggarwal said that the interrogation of the accused revealed that some political parties had contacted them some time ago.

“Dev Prakash Madhukar was arrested by the district SOG of Hathras on Friday evening from Najafgarh (Delhi) while the Sikandra Rao police arrested accused Ram Prakash Shakya from Kailora Chauraha and accused Sanju Yadav from Gopalpur Kachauri, Sikandra Rao on Saturday,” said SP Aggarwal.

He further noted that Dev Prakash Madhukar, due to his long-term involvement with the organisation, had become its fundraiser, collecting money to support its operations and conduct Satsang. Based on the interrogation thus far, it appears that a political party might be involved with them for its own political and personal gains, he revealed.

Meanwhile, all bank accounts, movable and immovable properties, and money trails associated with the accused Madhukar are being investigated, and assistance from other agencies will be sought as necessary, he said.

Hathras Police said that the interrogation also revealed that the preacher’s vehicle was driven through the crowd by the accused and their assistants, despite knowing that doing so could cause a stampede and a terrible accident due to the rush for the preacher’s blessings.

The police reported that during the initial interrogation, accused Dev Prakash revealed that he has been working on a contract basis as a junior engineer in the MGNREGA in Etah district since 2010. He has been associated with this organisation for years, organising events and collecting funds for it. He was the main organiser of the Satsangs event held in the village of Phulrai on July 2, and he obtained the necessary permissions for this event.

Dev Prakash and other assistants prevented the police administration from intervening at the event site. People were prohibited from doing any videography or photography at the event site. Violating several conditions mentioned in the permit issued by the administration, they disrupted traffic arrangements and other logistics. The interrogation also revealed that no efforts were made to control the crowd, and all of them fled the scene.

–IANS

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Jaipur, July 6 (IANS) Rajasthan Congress Discipline Committee held its meeting after 10 years in Jaipur on Saturday and discussed over 20 complaints filed by party workers.

A report based on these complaints has been sent to the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee President Govind Singh Dotasra for further action, said Udailal Anjana, Discipline Committee President.

“Some of our workers joined hands with the opposition to ensure the party’s defeat. We have sent a detailed report compiled under different categories to the state President for further action,” he added.

General Secretary and Spokesperson of Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee Swarnim Chaturvedi said that Co-Chairman of the Discipline Committee Shakuntala Rawat, Convenor Hakeem Ali and Member Vinod Gothwal were present in the meeting.

–IANS

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Ahmedabad, July 6 (IANS) Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that the INDIA bloc will defeat the BJP in Gujarat in the upcoming Assembly elections.

“They (BJP) have challenged us. We will defeat PM Modi and the BJP in Gujarat too just like we did in Ayodhya,” LoP Rahul Gandhi said while addressing the party workers at the Gujarat Congress headquarters in Paldi.

The LoP was on a day-long visit to the state after the recent clash between Congress and BJP supporters outside the Gujarat Congress headquarters.

He also met with the families of those who lost their lives in various tragedies in Gujarat, assuring them that he as LoP would raise their demands in the Parliament.

The relatives of TRP game zone fire victims, victims of the boat capsizing in Vadodara, victims of the 2022 Morbi bridge collapse, and victims of the 2016 Una Dalit flogging case met the LoP Rahul Gandhi at Congress headquarters.

He interacted with the family members of the victims, understood their issues, and promised to raise them in Parliament to ensure justice is served.

Meanwhile, Gujarat Minister Rushikesh Patel criticised LoP Rahul Gandhi’s aspirations, asserting that his ambitions for a Congress-led government in Gujarat are unfounded.

“LoP Rahul Gandhi and Congress engage in politics while we focus on development,” Patel said.

–IANS

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